Nanaimo's Dover Bay Dolphins made an early-season statement by winning a high-profile high school basketball tournament in the Fraser Valley last week.
The Dolphins senior boys won the Super 16 bracket at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational in Langley on Saturday, Dec. 7. Dover beat the St. Thomas More Knights by a 108-69 score in the final.
The game was close early in the fourth quarter, with Dover leading by as few as four points, but the team outscored the opposition 33-4 the rest of the way.
“That fourth quarter is just their training, their fitness, the weightlifting, and everything. It is pretty hard to keep up. The motor they have is pretty special as you saw there in the fourth quarter: they just blew the game apart,” said Darren Seaman, Dover coach, in a press release.
Frank Linder scored 33 points in the final and was chosen MVP.
“He affects the game with more than just his scoring. He does all the dirty work too: he defends the best guy, he rebounds. You couldn’t ask for more,” Seaman said.
Hudson Trood added 24 points and Joe Linder scored 17.
GAME ON … Dover Bay plays in the No Regrets tournament on the North Shore this week, Dec. 12-14, then plays its season opener against the Quw'utsun Thunderbirds on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m. at the Dover Bay Secondary School gym. Meanwhile, the Nanaimo District Islanders and Wellington Wildcats co-host the Hub City Challenge tournament this Thursday to Saturday, Dec. 12-14. Nanaimo District starts off against the Alberni District Storm on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 1:45 p.m. at the NDSS gym, while Welly plays Kwalikum on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 3 p.m. at the Wellington Secondary gym.
